A BRAVE man who took to the sky for charity has told of the horror of plunging through the air after his parachute didn't open.

Dave Pagett joined a team of 10 who took part in a charity skydive from a height of 12,500ft to raise money for Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust.

But his jump was anything but routine - as his instructor was forced to jettison his main parachute and pull the cord for the emergency chute.

Mr Pagett, aged 50, said: “It got loads of attention from other sky divers, unintentionally. My first parachute didn’t open so they had to open the emergency chute.

“I could feel us falling through the air, but we weren’t slowing down.

“We were still falling about 100mph going past the clouds.

“I asked him [the skydiver] if everything was alright and his response was ‘hang on dude we are going for another ride.’

“My first parachute was released. We went head down first then the second parachute opened.

We came down quite quickly.

“I just remember seeing my original parachute over my left shoulder disappearing into the distance.”

Mr Pagett wanted to do something to raise money for the cause as he was due to run the Manchester Marathon on April 5, then October 11 – but due to coronavirus, both events were cancelled.

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Despite the horror of having a faulty parachute, which only happens to one in 4,500 jumps – Mr Pagett was told, he said it was fun and he would do it again.

He said: “Everyone was telling me I was lucky. Sky diving was something that’s always been on my bucket list but never got round to doing.

“It was one of the best things I have done.

“It was on my 50th birthday as well, so it was very eventful and one I won’t forget.”

Mr Pagett, from Bromsgrove, added: “The work the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust do for kids is amazing, it’s a worthwhile cause.

“It was a great thing to do for a great cause. I would definitely do it again.

“I have followed the trust for about 12 months. They’re only a small charity.

“I drove some of us there on the day so I wouldn’t think about the jump much.”

The jump took place on Saturday, October 10 and so far, Mr Pagett has raised £1,130 for charity.

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gkcctskydive?